On the Sidewalks of New York

Richard Paul Poethig was born in 1925 and grew up in the tenements of Yorkville in Manhattan. In 26 episodes, Richard tells the story of his journey from his working-class roots to his ordination as a Presbyterian minister. The recordings of Richard reading his memoir are mixed with music that punctuates the humor and drama of his story.

On the Sidewalks of New York is a rich historical account of living in an “old law” tenement on 80th Street in Yorkville; attending Good Will Sunday School (Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church’s mission on the East Side); leaving home to attend the College of Wooster in Ohio in 1945 before the end of World War II; moving back to New York to study under Reinhold Niebuhr at Union Theological Seminary; courtship and marriage, graduation with a Masters of Divinity, and finding a church.

Richard devoted his life and ministry to urban and economic justice through the Presbyterian church’s “social creed” — a “vision of a society that shares more and consumes less, seeks compassion over suspicion and equality over domination.” He wrote extensively on the church’s relation to the working poor and on labor issues both in the Philippines, where he and his family lived as missionaries for 15 years, and in the United States. Hide full description

On the Sidewalks of New York is a rich historical account of living in an “old law” tenement on 80th Street in Yorkville; attending Good Will Sunday School (Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church’s mission on the East Side); leaving home to attend the College of Wooster in Ohio in 1945 before the end of World War II; moving back to New York to study under Reinhold Niebuhr at Union Theological Seminary; courtship and marriage, graduation with a Masters of Divinity, and finding a church. Richard devoted his life and ministry to urban and economic justice through the Presbyterian church’s “social creed” — a “vision of a society that shares more and consumes less, seeks compassion over suspicion and equality over domination.” He wrote extensively on the church’s relation to the working poor and... Show full description